HOMILY EASTER SUNDAY 02 B
The Common Good – A New World Order
(Acts 4:32-35; Psalm 118; 1 John 5:1-6; John 20:19-31)
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Last week we saw the Easter event as a new creation, flowing from the words “morning of the first day of the week.” Today, one week after Easter, we listen to a gospel account that also took place one week after Easter. Those same words are used, “It was evening on the day Jesus rose from the dead, the first day of the week.” Only now, we can see the Easter event as the beginning of a new world order, one based on a movement towards the common good.
The invitation for us is to be ambassadors of the Common Good, creating a New World Order.
Doubting Thomas by Caravaggio
The Gospel event gives us a fresh inspiring and hopeful description of the beginnings of this new creation, this new world order. It would be characterized by peace and joy. It would be built on the forgiveness of Jesus who gave his disciples his Spirit of forgiveness, the power to forgive. It would be based on the faith of St. Thomas, that Jesus is indeed our God and Risen Lord. It would essentially be an experience of eternal life in His name.
The first reading gives us a more detailed description of what this new world order would look like. Having experienced this radical newness of the Resurrection of Jesus, the followers of Jesus were transformed into his Body, the Church. Theirs was a remarkable unity. They were of one mind and one heart, we are told, made possible by the gift of the Spirit. They were able to witness in a powerful way to what had happened, to the resurrection of Jesus. That was the source of their newness and hope. They were able to share everything they possessed, so that no one person was in need. Theirs was a theology of the common good.
May I suggest that this reality, experienced by the early Church, is precisely the solution to the problems of the modern world that the G-20 leaders of the world’s most developed countries are desperately seeking to stem the disastrous effects of the current global economic crisis.
The blame for that crisis can, I believe, be placed squarely on the shoulders of those who have for decades lived out of a philosophy of selfishness articulated by the thinking of philosophers such as Ann Rynd and the policies of economic leaders such as Greenspan who based their decisions on that philosophy. It is a philosophy of selfishness. If everyone and every country looked after their own interests first, then somehow the material goods of this world should trickle down to all the rest. There was no thought of regulation, or moral restrictions, of caring for the poor. It was the developed world first and the rest would get the crumbs.
Well, that philosophy and economic theory has just crumbled into dust, taking with it many financial institutions and manufacturing industries not to mention jobs and careers. Thousands have lost hope, seen their future security evaporate before their eyes. It is time for a change, and I believe, time for us to come forth with the gospel values that are the answer.
What is needed is a truly new world order, one that is based on faith in God’s love for us shown through the death and resurrection of Jesus. It is a new world order that is described as existing already within weeks after the giving of the Holy Spirit upon the followers of Jesus. Those values of unity, witnessing to the resurrection of Jesus, and sharing of their resources with each other so that there was no one in need, are precisely what the world needs today. We need to be coming together in faith and love to proclaim a new world order of the common good. That common good has for way too long been ignored and downgraded, lost in the false euphoria of empty promises of quick wealth and irresponsible financial management of the world’s resources.
There are some glimmers of hope. There are some economists, lawyers, bankers, church leaders and politicians who are beginning to reflect on what has happened, trying to learn where mistakes were made, and seeking a new and better way. What better way is there than the way of the gospel, the way blazed by Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God who is now the Risen Lord. It is he who gives us the Spirit of faith, forgiveness and love that can heal the world. Would that each person alive could find faith in Him! But that is our task – to be ambassadors of the common good, helping to build a new world order.
The Eucharist that we celebrate today is already a sharing in that new world order. We hear the Word of God challenging and inspiring us to deeper faith in the resurrection. Above all, we receive the Body and Blood of the crucified and Risen One, who forgives and heals us and empowers us to go out, filled with hope and divine life, to witness to the resurrection by our words and our lives.
So let us take our Spirit given role seriously, place our faith in Jesus, live this new life to the full, and become ambassadors of the common good, helping to build a new world order.
